


An Evening With James

by Hester (hester4418)



Series: Guess Who? [3]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen, Guess the characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 05:58:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4008499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hester4418/pseuds/Hester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet written in response to VAMB's "Guess the Pairing Contest 2013". The object was to write short stories about any pairing of established characters without mentioning any names, and then for the readers to guess the protagonists. Come and have a try! ;-)</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Evening With James

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Star Trek: Voyager and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
> 
> Written April/May 2013.
> 
> The correct pairing is listed at the bottom of the story - I've put in some spoiler space, so if you want to guess, don't scroll down too quickly!

When she had asked him to stay the night, she hadn't imagined it coming to this.

Granted, it had been her fault. Partially at least. If she hadn't fallen asleep in the tub, she would have noticed the overflowing water earlier. But how was she supposed to know that their most recent battle had left hairline fractures in her bathroom floor, and that the water would find its way to the next deck before resurfacing?

It had taken Torres' repair crews hours to find the leak; and the clean-up work between decks and in his quarters would take at least another day. But when she'd offered him her couch, she hadn't really expected him to accept. Nor had she foreseen that he would be arriving with an armful of holovids and a large bowl of popcorn to 'pass the time'.

She was torn between joining him and just going to bed. On the one hand, she _was_ curious to see a sample of those 20th century 'movies' he was so fond of, and to find out what the big attraction was. On the other hand, she was just plain tired. Her nap in the tub had been cut short by the security detail beating down her door, and then there'd been a steady flow of engineers crawling all over her quarters to make sure no further damage had been overlooked.

She pulled on her favorite pair of pajamas ‒ pink silk, with a matching dressing gown. From the living room came sounds of gunfire and explosions, and she sighed. With background noise like that she'd never be able to sleep. She might as well join him, at least for a while.

"Hey," he greeted her enthusiastically around a mouthful of popcorn as soon as she appeared in the doorway. "Come to watch good ol' James?"

She stared in disbelief at the mess he'd made in less than an hour. The blankets she had provided had been carelessly thrown over one end of the couch; cushions were piled high on the other. His feet were propped up on the couch table, which was littered with data chips. The bowl of popcorn was perched precariously on his lap, and its contents had already spilled all around him.

She made a mental note to have him assigned to a cleaning detail first thing in the morning.

"Scoot over." When he did and she settled down next to him, she belatedly realized that she had just invited herself into his bed ‒ temporary, makeshift bed, but still. Then she decided she was too tired to care either way.

"Who's James?" she asked, barely suppressing a yawn.

He offered the popcorn to her and she took a handful, absently munching on it while she tried to make sense of the flickering images before her.

"A spy," he replied reverently. "Or rather, a secret agent, working for one of the old Earth governments. He always has these cool gadgets ‒ like an explosive pen, a miniature one-person helicopter, a car with a rocket launcher..."

"I get the idea," she interrupted. "He's Captain Proton without the ray gun."

He grinned, blond head bobbing up and down in appreciation of her comparison.

She chuckled, grabbed another handful of popcorn and leaned back. For the next half hour she valiantly tried to follow the complicated plot but soon lost track. Instead, she turned to studying her evening's companion.

He was completely absorbed by the movie, and totally oblivious to her scrutiny. What surprised her the most was how comfortable and relaxed he looked, entirely at ease despite the fact that it was 0030 hours, they were alone in her quarters and both clad only in pajamas.

_He's probably the only one who can pull that off and make it look natural_ , she mused. All the others would be dying from embarrassment ‒ if they had been courageous enough to take her up on her offer in the first place.

She had to admit that it was a nice change from her usual solitary evenings. Most nights she just sat and read ‒ most often various kinds of reports ‒ sometimes with music playing in the background. It was refreshing to have her routine shaken up a little, even if it meant accommodating his choice of entertainment.

He turned his head. "Is everything all right? I can turn it off if..."

"No, it's fine." She pulled her feet under her and curled up against the back of the couch, resting her head on one arm. Despite the flickering lights, her eyelids soon grew too heavy to keep them open.

Some time later, she awoke with a start. The room was silent, and someone was gently patting her arm.

"I'm sorry to wake you," a voice whispered in her ear. "But if we both want to get some decent sleep, I think you'd better move."

She forced her eyes open, memory returning in a rush of sounds and images. She was stretched out on the couch, lying half on top of him, one of his arms draped securely around her shoulders to keep her from rolling to the floor.

When she lifted her head to look at him, he smiled sheepishly.

"You fell asleep and sort of slumped against me. I thought you'd wake up on your own once the movie ended, but..."

She uncurled her limbs and stood, yawning. "I'd better head to bed. Will you be all right?"

"I'm fine," he assured her, and felt compelled to add, "And don't worry. They won't hear it from me."

She shot him another hard look, but allowed herself a slight smile. "Good night."

"'Night."

As she moved to the bedroom, she heard him pounding the pillows into shape, and then the rustle of blankets as he settled down for the night.

Just before she fell asleep, the sound of light snoring reached her ears, and she smiled again. She could _almost_ get used to this.

-==/ The End \==-

SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER SPACE  
SPOILER  
SPACE  


_-==/ Janeway and Paris \==-_

_That was easy, wasn't it? But just wait until you've read the next one... ;-)_


End file.
